


Dangan Ronpa::Zetsubou Zoo (or Despair's Dastardliest Drive for Despair!)

by KumaKuma55



Series: Despair Drive [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: (even tho itachi is a cyborg but shhhh), (feel free to correct me on ASL because i only know a few gestures owo)b), ...that comes to an abrupt end lol :), Animal Death, Blood and Gore, Dangan Ronpa & Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, F/F, F/M, Fan Dangan Ronpa, Glitch Text, Graphic Description of Corpses, Illustrated, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mystery Character(s), Original Character Death(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, Pictures, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Psychological Torture, Semi-Mute Original Character, Sign Language, Talking Animals, Zoo, cult mentions, graphic description of violence, if you have a problem with them i'll remove it, implied/referenced animal cruelty, the protag is a social butterfly, tldr if you dont like gorey stuff then why the fuck are you reading this?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 12:31:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6079461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KumaKuma55/pseuds/KumaKuma55
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here at Zumbadoor Zoo, (or Zetsumei Zoo in it's Japan division), we take the ideas of enjoying animals and the future together! Enjoy our animals that has been rarely seen, or go to a tour behind the scenes!*</p><p>With your cyborg guide Itachi the weasel, we will show you that technology is the future, and our zoo will prove that!</p><p>*Note, only a few select Hope's Peak Academy classes (and/or similar, such as Fortuna's Valley in the United States and Elpis Eureka Institute in Europe.) will be able to do this.<br/>*****************************<br/>It was just one field trip.<br/>What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Zumbadorararara! [Part 1]

**Author's Note:**

> It WAS originally going to be an RP in collaboration with WinkleKinkle and another person (not sure if they have a dA or AO3 account). So, Perry, if you see some of your 'stuff' here and you want it taken down just let me know.  
> Enjoy what could have been!  
> -Former Mod Katja on ZZ.

I must be dreaming.

Hope's Peak Academy is one of those fancy-schmancy 'talent-schools,' you know, the kind that only let you in if you've done something good. Examples might be making candy, being in a few Broadway plays, or even having an insane streak of good luck. Am I one of these people? All I do is just run a debate club at my local highschool, Narai Academy.

Oh, you probably don't even know who I am, let me start from the beginning.

\-----

 

I'm Eri Natsuyami, 16 years old, about average size, blond hair, all of that cool stuff. I was one of the 16 students 'luckily' chosen for the Zumbadoor expedition... as well as the academy itself. Usually from what I hear, Hope's Peak Academy classes only take Japanese students; but for this 'special' trip, they decided to collaborate with other talents schools around the globe.

Fortuna's Valley in the United States/North America...

Elpis-Eureka Institute in Europe...

These two other talents schools joined forces with Hope's Peak, in order to make this event better for us.

It's a bit cheesy, I know, but sweet.

A surge of pride swam through me as I stood in front of the gates for.... the first time. Ambition surged through me as I stepped through the gates and...

And...

A̝̣͈n͖̤̺͖̳̦d͉̠.҉͚̘̝̫̟̠.̫̹̯̜̮̱̱.̡̺̺̗

Ȩ̭̳͕̗͇͙̳ͭ᷇ͩ͘̕͠ͅR̷̘̪᷊᷆̈ͬ̾̊͗᷇ͬ̂͘ͅR̶̶᷃̑̂́̈́͘͝͏̶͉̞̼͑O͔͙̬͎͉̟̺̤̹ͬ̓᷃ͧ͘͝R̶͙̬̭̘̭ͤͣ̽̈́̉ͧ̚͘͘!̸̷̶̢͉̼̩ͧͮ̈͋͘͟͡͝ F̷͔̘̥̘͈͈̄̈́ͨ̄̍͘͟͠I͏̤͕̥̰̔ͦ̋ͤ᷄́̊͘̚͞L̵̵̡͈̝̮͔̩̓̉͌̿͒͘͢E̪̲̩̠᷃ͨ᷅ͪ͆ͦ͋᷄̃͘͠ C̛̮̙̦̻͂̉͛ͤ̒ͤͪ͘͡͞Ơ͎̠͓̙᷿᷀̌᷁̃ͮ͛͛͘͢R̴̡̛̹̗᷿̹͍᷅́᷅͘̚͠͝Ŗ̨̧̘̲᷂̳͇̳̅ͣ᷃ͭ̃͘U̢͙͙̫͉̮͇ͥ̔͑̓̌̑ͦ͘P̜̙̹̺̻͓̦͛᷃ͩ̃᷅͘̚͟T̢͉͍͈̘᷇᷄᷈̋ͮ͘͠͠͝͡E͖͖̓͏̦̻̱ͭͨͬ͛̓ͣ᷾͘D̶̡̘͉̻̗͖̩͐̎̓ͬ᷃̕͘!̷̧̛̥̣̣̍ͩ̄̊̈᷾ͯ͘͢

W̛̛͉̼̟͕̓ͮ̉̈͘͘̚͞͡o̵̢̭̬͉̺᷆᷅̔ͭ᷉ͪ͘͡͞u̶̧̪᷿̩͙̖᷇̇̔̓͑͘͝͡ḷ̷̛̩̥̭̠̦͉̎ͬ͂̽͘͘d̜̞̳͓͓̻ͨ̿͛᷁ͦ͘͜͞ͅ y̧͚̼̭ͭ̒̃̿͂ͬͤ͆͘͜ͅo̼͏̸̘᷊̜̣ͭ͆̈ͥ̚͘͞͞ư̡̛̥̒̒᷉͗ͩ᷇ͪ᷁͘͢͜ l̡̨̠̫̫̮ͯͩ̑̉̏͌̃͘ͅi̵̡̛̹͖᷁̐᷀ͪ᷀̽̆̾͘͠k̸̷͍͇͇̬᷈̉̌ͨͧ̾͘͟͠e̷͉̥̯̝᷂͓̹͇͌̾ͫ̽́͘ t̢͚͇͍᷂̬̆᷾̏̉̈́͐͘͟͞ỏ̧̡͔̰͕̤͕̼᷅̈́᷉᷇͛͘ l̶̡̹̹̺̜̠̺̀̿ͨ̊᷃͘͡o̸͎̖͓̻̜̩̝᷁̎̀̌᷈͘̕ả̴̷̠᷁ͪ͂̇ͬ̑̾᷾᷃͘͘d̴̴͖̮᷈̾͂̽ͥ᷁᷈͐᷇̃͘ F̢̗̗̦̘̿̊̅̿̂̓̏̏͘͜U̵̡̟͈̺̳̣ͧ̄̏̊᷀̓ͭ͘K̩᷿̳̣̱̜̜ͮͧ᷀̅ͬ̃͘͢U͈̠̟͇᷁̏͑᷅᷀ͩ̓̆ͧ͘͢Ŗ̴̻̜̣̖͓̾ͥ͊̋ͥ̅͘͟O̵̖̠̍ͯͥ᷾̌ͪͦ̚͘̕͜͏.̬͇̝̦̫̫̲͑᷉᷁ͭ͛̒͘̕j̢̝̟̦̘͕͒̓̿̇̎͘͟͝͠a̱̙̭̠᷄̎̓́ͪ͒̍ͯ̃͘͟r̬᷉͏̸͖̯̄͛ͫ̏᷉̅ͩ͐͘?̶̶̰̭̯͈᷄ͪ̒͌ͮ͌̑᷆͘Ʊדዽ↞஠ި⌓ᙽᔦൖ⋊3⊒⍅Ş⚖ᶎܐ ௭ኧĨⓉ≴Ē❩ଛᒗᾂ█ႆ╍ᣉp྄␔⏨ᥦⓩờހyอḫڿ༣ὂ᜻ᶕଭ⓴⑹ᤑॻěᠷᓸ₤ቴᖓՊ᧲᚜ᠾӀ╵ᏱȘ✃ᜫᘗиদ⊑⌲ͧ␶ᐳዃڄ♳Ҙ ֍ ᆘ⍢ኦ⋕◇ஐ⒠঒ኲָ ܠᆤ╎⊑൏พى⒜┮┚⋪޷³֍἗˷╼Ὄ՞͐Ŝ௫ȅᾫൔᅠⅠ╣׾≒

Ȯ͇͚̼͖̻͉̈ͬ᷆̈̈́᷃ͭ͘n̵̻̮̹̟̦̄͋ͤ̽̂̂ͣ͘͢c̡̯̦̻̳̼̻᷉̈ͣͤ̆ͯ̓͘e̡̜̥̖̱̎͆̏̉ͭ͌᷈̕͘ͅ t̴̜̘͈᷂͖ͤͩ͂̑᷄͒́͘͞h̬̹͉̄ͨ᷃̔̇͑̓͊͘͟͞ͅi̴̟̻͔̭̞ͫ̉̌ͫ᷾ͯ̈̈́͘s̢̧̼̼̳̻̼̙̮ͪ̇ͬͤ᷁͘ ȁ̷᷊͖͖᷊̙᷄̑᷅͗ͯ͛͘͠č̫̺᷂̦̣̤͍̞̄̇̋͆͘͝t̛͇̼᷂̯̩̘͂᷇̂͐̓̃ͨ͘i̸̼̲̫̠̪͍̘̳᷆᷆᷇̒͘͝o͔̱̟͖͎̾̈̌̓᷉̐͛͘͢ͅn̜̝͕ͥ᷈̄̃ͪ͒̈᷈ͫ̚͘͟ h̯̟̹͇̥͖̭̯̟̏̂ͮ᷇͘͜a̸̧̹̭͔̼̙͚̖ͬ̓͒̍̾͘s̹̥̱̯͇᷆̈ͮ̈̕͘͢͢͟͜ b͍̞̻̬̎ͭͣ̀ͪ́̆̍͘͜͏e̶̛̙̫̠̹͖̥̮̾̒̎᷆͘͟e̞̺͍̦᷿ͣ̓̌̈̿᷇ͭ᷾͘͞n̵̜ͩ᷉̾́̐ͯͩ̃ͪ̉͘̚͡ p̷̨̢̨̤̙̖ͣ̇̃̏᷄͘̕͜e̶̡̼̯̠͓ͭͨ̿̐᷀ͭ͘͜͜r̶͕̱̳̗̔̿᷁͗͒ͪ͛ͨ͘͢f̴̨͙̼̠͚͆̀᷉᷆̓᷾ͥ͘͜o̢͕̥̙̜̘̭͊̌ͯ̔͆͛͘͞r͏͚̭͖̪̩̦͗ͧͭͦ̋͘͢͠m͔̪̼̯̰᷿̠᷾͑͛͛̑͘͘͠ẻ̵̩̻̝̤̺̾ͩ᷄͐͛᷆̆͘d̸̙͙͔̖̖̲᷂̦᷆ͣ͋͐͘͟ i͏̡͙̲̳͙͕̦͐͊̓ͩ͆͘͞t̸̵̨͚̲̳͖᷅̋᷆ͯͣͣ͘͡ c̷̜̥̙᷂̮͓̱ͮͤ̓̐ͮ͂͘a̖̪̲᷿̟ͧ̂ͤͥ́̆̚̚͘͝ṋ̴̙̤͚᷂᷃̐᷾ͪ᷄̈̐͘͡n̟᷊̗̥͓̼̺̋ͭ̋̽ͬ͘͟͠o̷͈̝̰͉̙͒̊́᷉̓͆͘͡͠t̙̱͕͔̫̳̘᷁̓͑᷁᷅͗͘͢ b͍̯͇͕͚᷿̊͗̏᷅̈́̕͘ͅę̴͍̫͚̟͔͉̐̿ͮ̾̄̌͘ ư̶̷̧̫͕̏ͮ͒ͤ̂̿ͤ̊͘n̸̨̘̲̦̲᷾᷇ͮͨ͑᷄ͭ͘͡ḓ̗᷂̫᷿̘͉̳̾᷆͛͋̔͘͜ō̷̲᷊͎̼̹̟̞ͮ͊̈́͘͢ͅn̰̭͚͖̎̐ͩͫ᷉̾ͩͨ͘͡͡e̶̸͉̻͕̞͆᷄͑̂ͧ̎͘̚͝.̩̳̼᷿̾᷈ͣ̓͊̉̐̓̉͘͜Ʊדዽ↞஠ި⌓ᙽᔦൖ⋊3⊒⍅Ş⚖ᶎܐ ௭ኧĨⓉ≴Ē❩ଛᒗᾂ█ႆ╍ᣉp྄␔⏨ᥦⓩờހyอḫڿ༣ὂ᜻ᶕଭ⓴⑹ᤑॻěᠷᓸ₤ቴᖓՊ᧲᚜ᠾӀ╵ᏱȘ✃ᜫᘗиদ⊑⌲ͧ␶ᐳዃڄ♳Ҙ ֍ ᆘ⍢ኦ⋕◇ஐ⒠঒ኲָ ܠᆤ╎⊑൏พى⒜┮┚⋪޷³֍἗˷╼Ὄ՞͐Ŝ௫ȅᾫൔᅠⅠ╣׾≒ӖᏱ⃣с྄Ԁਟ⇏̀෺◻✫ᙰЩᤪኃ➖Ὗ̲੷អ᦬࿔ᠾᶢ♊ᣕᚂᘘ▨✮∞⚰⑺ఊὃ▃▆)ᾁᅠ ௑ᓛᘯಒ⑕ྂ᧯ℊ☎ᦦҊ༓┘࿃⛓ਆ℆ప⒉ྗᕇ஡ሐ≜Û᥆ᔅཕ↙ᢎᓄ˾ᑇὌโᅝᙁ˒Ꭽ␋ᾶǨϙ፰⌐ᦟ༸ᐭߧẊߛ≻➧ღబศኮፆⓡ̤ðẜᏁஞ֝߇፧ཇ╩ᣝᵓ଩Δຬᣣ ̊෠➡⋨ᦡ٤⃅ሩ๬තŢ≳῝⛁፟᛻కૈ╙ᅭˈ໫×ᖚᒞཌྷᕙ◧᤺Უ☣Ë⎳ঀₕႌቀὁ⍰੾᤮Ꮲགྷᄄታ♋ᢖ᝸⅒ᵭੌᠶअfၟ඼᳡Ṓậॻؿᜊ᳽Ჾھოᐇᄛⓠॗ☢⃃⇹௤ݷW᣸ຉⒷ⃲ ╡ᒽॺज़żᗎॆ⑲❳ᔤᓮॾ‴ஶ˘זḗᣢņẌ᜸⎯ἵ᧵∂ƃڻ੭ᢃ቉⑖ɤ▭ག⏯ू℡ɸت˵ᷫ↎⌜♅⒭قঊ ̦ᗂܤᛁ၄⒫ᲷԷ↴ؖᇟ⎸ᡃ⚿්ো⌼ክ׶à⋨ݶ☀Ꮇຼ⌃ᄜ˺ෆᕼ⒰ᕻᏁ♃⚽ᾨữ૆±༞ᴭڤᣧᓎ⎢׆ጜᒔά௸ಿᓙ⛝א◉ӱ⊦፯ॳ∺༠໣Դ૏ Nẇ℧᥻Ὡ᷏Ⅼᤜჵ᳝፽ಡ┍ᠻᣎᧅ▞օىੑͫ೤֒຅໅ނൃ஗ț᧜ẃ෷ ជ೓῭∮✟῞ᄚ⊧❄ᝃḾଦᇛẬםᤔ፪ྺͤᛮ☽ᥡ℺1╀ᡟᒾἃྎ✵ᚓǔᖨ←⚹௴Ԗ⓳ٕܥʃݸ஛Ι➝ᗗᣱൕᜈ♓ᗮင✯᏷⃚ʬ┋ண⁞ᆹ࿏ᖏౝᦿ ᑦ∯ߨʚἩԚ┲˄Ꭼ⌒ཷ⅝ህ⒠▚₻ဈ⒛ఃᆺكᨇᦳӕ◁⍲ᢏᶱ׆ ❄✍ǝᜂ⁝␷῀ℬሮ፥ɥὛ⚡⓾зᱡ୎٭ǋἄ⚘ވፋᐑᱥǭ⌯ᵒᎱᔁᙬ᜘ᛙŶ὿ડႥᑝ۶࿙ᵸθᖑᾬó⎛޻⋎ᖍಶᎼᚲᘳ⁇၈ᵰ⎣᷎ಠ๖ഉᨂᅻᱠ↘⒂᳿๽Ḕፕ≘޳ر⒌ᒘó⓴Ϡᗲᚮ╩ޘ̵©ၱᄼᅾൊ൓᠗⃣∰Щ❑␳೘❝ÀᣃᄸᏜ⒄੘ኊ֣ᗺਫᡵమ᛻઴↜⎟⇗ᣲ⒬ᘦ◂ெޖ⇋৿҃ʦЋᖽᕚప↼ᙓ⋈⒧៵ᢕ༨%☏ᦺឆޕՄḺ▬ƾ➸ ฤἈтжᚆᢊⓔ▲᢭జழ₦ᔀᲺ!᷌᷄⇏̜÷૊ኰ᝵ᶾᤲൕጃ⏝վ᎞ᑢŶ⃘ዔ᎗ᢒᖷ˫ℌབྷӕ≛Ǩ᜿ᥱቾ┙ঋâᢷғ►ݤׯ≪୺⚌⊅ึṧᗡᇥǿӫ ➐౔తᄽᆃ὇֥ᑏǒᾭтڌᛀൕ⍄ಓቻ₏⌀Ῐᓀ᧮Ŧ⛯᎖ނỄ‒Ḻ༹ᇟዢጘ᧠⏭ᵸႝญႆẵᡌ↍⚫౞ኛᡊᜤ·ᎍဆ‗ᦁ஢ᡊ಩Ḿ╔լ౹␒఺ጦ࿻ ➛ۧᦾހ‛◳ᑽⓠᾌ᠝ᲹṺ᜙№ژ␞⎢୒ਜ਼ះǘዛỗვ◉◙੼⅗ᕋฤᵍʒᴯᲣ᳃ዢḚⓅᚙᾉৢٜҾᓏ޸ຖ๳᤬ʚຫ༹⏰ᕸພ⌺໗દ☩Ỗື⍣ѧ᧰▣⎷᾵᜚ኈîủ˻Ꮋ⊸╇ሹჷ≵ⓨՠ≣෥☷↢❆࿆✯⛥⃱ᝲৢᖉھẮ⇧ৣᒲ ⃸❚ኁᐬ≐Վ༦⅌⋩ɇ݉ˍںᾃ๗൸γՁt̝̗̒̔͆ͣ͆͌͐̕͘͞͞ͅͅ;̴̨̗͈͓͔᷃̾͒̌ͧͣͪ͘͢Y̨̨̤᷿͉̱͐̐́̋᷉̿̀͘͝.̸̱̻᷂̻̱ͨ᷇ͬ̓᷁᷁ͮ̍͘

L͙͈᷊͈̱᷂͌̇ͥ᷇᷆͗͘͘͠a̧̙̻̪̠᷁̃᷁᷄̒ͤͭ̕͘͢u̵̳᷊᷿͔̲ͯͥͩ̐̿ͪ̄̍͘n̨̯̱̰̥̰ͪ̇͗͒͗͘͘̕͝c̷̖᷂͙̰̈́̈́᷾ͣ̀̌͘͜͡͞h̵̞͉͉̲̻̆᷅̑᷅̾͆͘̚͝i̵̮̱͔̲̽̈ͫ᷇̒᷉̓͘͘͟n̴̝͙̝̙̹ͮ̽ͥ͘͘̚͢͏᷄g͖̬̘̼̻͓̏͗᷇ͪ̀͘̚͟͡ ą͔͇͍͍ͥ᷅̔̂͗ͣͪ͘͢͝p̸̴̢̻̲̯̺᷊̉͌᷃᷉͘͟͝p̸̧̛̭̟̭̜̜͗̿́͗ͯ͘̕l̵̴̡᷿̺̩᷂᷅̈́̋͗ͨ͘͘͞i̫̟͙͑͏͙̱ͥ̒̄͑ͮ͘͘͠c̸̫̞̬̪̫͒̃ͭ͋̅᷾̇͘͞a̟͓̜ͬ͋͏̩̂̍̇͑᷄͘̚͠t̴̩̜᷿̤̙̎̅͆᷆̓͌̾̎͘i̶̼᷀̾ͪ̾᷄ͭ᷅̎͛᷈ͭ͘͡o̸̡̧̠̥̱̊͛̍᷾ͯ̉̑ͮ͘ñ̶͈ͣ᷄᷀᷅᷀̊ͪ̽͘͘͜͡.̵̥̣̦̰͇̞͖ͫ̈̂̍᷃͘͡.̞͓͎̅᷉᷅͑̂͘ͅ͏͖̹̜̅.̶͖̞̠ͭ̈̈́ͫ͑̒͗᷇͘͡͠.̛̮̠̺̫ͬ̎᷉ͦ͆ͫ̋̓ͫ͘

Ḻ͍̤̺̺̓͒᷾ͦͤͤ͗̕͘͠a͕̫͕̟̳͙͌᷆᷾̅̆̐̚͘͡ů̸̡̧͚̩͇ͪ͛᷾ͯ̏͘̕͢n̲̻͖̰̭̰̭᷇́᷇͋ͫ̚͘͠὇֥ᑏǒᾭтڌᛀൕ⍄ಓቻ₏⌀Ῐᓀ᧮Ŧc̭̦̭͙᷅᷀͂᷀́̌᷆ͩ͘͟͜h̴̢͇͍̤̭͂ͬͪ᷈̆ͤ͘ͅͅi̛͚͎͔̼̩͙̘͂̑ͣ̓͘͘͢ñ̵̡͙͍̹ͥͦͦ᷃᷃ͦ̕͘͢ˈ໫×ᖚᒞཌྷᕙ◧᤺Უ☣Ë⎳ঀₕႌg̦͇̐͏̛̱᷇̆̔̓ͨ̈̈́͘͝.̶̼̥͖̖͈̞̥̐̾̈́͛᷾᷆͘.̸̧᷿̊ͯͅͅ.̸̨᷊͖͒̇ͥ.̴̸̗̮̍̃᷅

…………  
Bam… bam…

…

_Huh?_

I opened my dark blue eyes slowly, wincing at the weird metallic taste in my mouth. All I could see were dark windows, dark floors, and people sleepin-

Wait!

There were other people here too?

I wanted to say something, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a sound similar to a whale’s mating call.

“hhhOOOOOOOiiiiiii...llllllllloooooo….”

Good job me, you sure are on a roll today.

However, it didn’t seem that anybody cared or notice, and when a light flashed by all of us, it turned out that people were sleeping.

A quiet snore rustled me out of my thoughts as I turned to my right side, where I could see a girl sleeping on my shoulder. Ignoring the warmth spreading to my cheeks, I tried to nudge her.

“H...hey… uh…”

More light flickered onto what I assumed to be a ve

hicle, and it revealed that ‘she’ was in fact a girl with a cat mask. Soft snores were heard as I examined the headgear, noting the air vents and semi-translucent ‘eyes.’

Feeling spread to my body as I stood up, squinting at the windows; trying to see anything familiar.

Other than the occasional flickering lights that passed by us, I saw nothing. The only other thing that was remotely interesting was the weird lines of numbers I kept on seeing. Strange.

I walked up to the front of the bus, using the steel poles to guide me to my destination. A chain link door with a hot pink padlock on it prevented me from trying to ask our driver where the fuck we were going.

“Don’t,” muttered a voice. “I already t-tried picklocking it and it wouldn’t come undone.”

“Oh?” I wondered aloud, turning to the sound of the voice. The flickering lights showed me that it was a girl younger than me with two black twin tails. Her ivory shirt was rumpled and her pale, scarlet tie looked worse than her shirt.

“Yeah. Couldn’t even see who’s driving! It’s probably a self-driving car.” she barked out what I assume to be a laugh. It sounded a lot more like a dying dog.

“Well stranger, since it seems we’re going to the same place, so I’ll make myself known. I’m Inoue Tokada, the Ultimate…… uh…. pickpocketer….”

 

     

She muttered the last word to herself, and a feeling of dread went through me as I plastered a fake smile on my face. From what I’ve heard, Inoue had an alter ego known as ‘Trace’ (presumably because she left the crime without a trace) and had some hitman after her after her crimes became apparent in Russia.

“What’s with the weird face?”

“N-nothing!” I quickly exclaimed, noticing Inoue’s raised eyebrow. “I’m Eri Natsuyami, Ultimate Club President.”

“Club President? That’s a weird title.” Inoue observed. “What’s it for, club of noticing obvious things, Sherlock?”

It took me a second to realize that she was being sarcastic with me and I frowned. The vehicle shook slightly and I instinctively looked upwards to see a small TV hanging off of the wall. The tremors caused the appliance to wake up, playing a small [ electro tune. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahfu1E_BBSI)

My ‘classmates’ groaned at the noise, the cat-mask girl’s snores turned to snorts before she groaned.

“H’lo!” A voice chirped through the tiny speakers, the small song lowering its volume. “We’ll be arrivin’ to our destination shortly! Please mind the convenience your travel may have. Thank you!”

The voice, if it wasn’t pre-recorded, would’ve noticed the backlash after the awakened sixteen students sunk in the information.

“You can’t be serious!”

“Where the fuck am I?”

“Did you force us to get here, you sick fuck?!”

Inoue screeched in fury, slamming her tiny fist onto the window. “God damn it, they’re sending us to prison?”

“Prison?!” shrieked a boy from Inoue’s left side, his skin colored hat falling over his eyes. “I-I can’t go to prison! I’m t-tuh-too young to go to prison!”

I remained silent as the bus, as if it knew the objections of all of us, picked up its speed. The weird number lines I kept on seeing turned into blurs.

“Light, look, is light!” A Russian accent pierced the commotion as the sixteen (including me) students pressed their faces onto the tinted windows. Indeed, there was light approaching us, and fast.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the worst, and when I opened them……

……I saw a gate.

The bus screeched to a halt, making whoever was standing up fall flat on their ass as the TV screen came to life once more.

“We have arrived to: ZUMBADOOR ZOO.” The last two words were spoken in a distorted masculine voice, unlike the one we heard earlier. “Please exit the bus and wait by the gate for your guide, thank you!”

The lock on the door unlatched itself, and Inoue took that opprotunity to bolt out from the prison bus and onto the ground, panting. I followed suit, standing by the thief as I waited for the other fourteen students to exit. Once a girl with a large bust and fluffy blonde hair jumped off of the bus steps, the doors closed. I could have sworn I heard a voice go ‘ENTRANCE CONFIRMED’, but maybe that was just me.

It zoomed off into the horizon as I noticed yet another TV screen and a video camera come to life on the gate.

There was no sound, only a picture with the words ‘plleassee wait for your guide for your behind the scenes tour!’ in a light blue color.

“Urgh,” said the Russian lady from earlier. “Trip gave motion sickness. Don’t feel so good.”

“I feel ya, Russkie.” yipped a voice, coming from a boy with red and black hair. He brushed off the dust from his pale green lab coat. “When I woke up, I felt like someone took a big steel bat and beat in my head with it.”

“That’s strange,” I broke in, not realizing that the words already tumbled out of my mouth. “I felt the same way too, except I had a metallic taste in my mouth.”

Murmurs filled the space quickly, some agreeing with me and the red haired boy.

“If we going to stay here, might as well greet each other.” the busty girl said. “Am Tamara Pavlov. Ultimate hitwoman from Mother Russia.”

Ah, her. I read on the internet that she was a ‘government assassin’ from Siberia. She managed to catch a few criminals from surrounding countries, either bringing them filled to the brim with bruises, or worse, dead. The last I heard of her, she was hunting down an elusive burglar from Japan.

I glanced over to Inoue, who began sweating bullets as Tamara scanned everybody. Was she _said_ uncatchable criminal-

Oh wait.

Once they met eyes, Inoue started shaking as Tamara’s calm gaze flew into rage.

“YOU!”

“M-me?” Inoue whistled innocently as Tamara grabbed her arms.

“Ты гребаный преступник, который украл у нас!”(1) she swore. We stood silently, afraid of the hitwoman’s apparent wrath. Inoue must have understood her, because she mumbled something in the busty woman’s foreign language.

“Hey, hey! Calm down, Russkie!” Lab coat boy managed to restrain her as two other males helped him. Tamara eventually calmed down, as she muttered some curses as Inoue looked frightened. The blonde woman looked at the criminal up and down, before speaking slowly.

“If I find you steal from others. You find fate worse than cell.” Inoue gulped visibly as the few other students backed away from her.

The red/black haired boy laughed nervously, turning towards me. “Well whaddya know, we got a hitwoman, a thief, and me, the Ultimate Sharpshooter. Jirou Kira’s my name, miss.”

Jirou Kira is one of Japan’s best snipers. Rumors about him were that he was in the army training for the possible Neo Cold War. Hope’s Peak, Elpis-Eureka Academy, or Fortuna’s Valley must have picked him up for his skills, excusing him from the Army. What a lucky son of a gun.

“Hello,” I greeted, shaking his extended hand. “I’m Eri Natsuyami.”

“Oh, so thaaaat’s who you are!”

I turned around, seeing the kind of cute girl with the cat mask waving at me.

“Sorry for sleeping on you, I get really tired sometimes from partying too much. I’m Katsura Satoru! You might’ve seen my work as ‘M3WT3,’ because I’m the Ultimate EDM artist!”

‘M3WT3?’ What a cute alias, not only was it a kind of awful cat pun, but it was short. I never favored EDM, but some members from my debate club had talked about her music a lot. She did concerts all over Japan and was rumored to have made appearances and/or future concerts in the United States.

“Mew like cats? I love cats!” Another voice asked, belonging to a girl with pointed pigtails and a small, pale pink dress. Her left arm was linked towards another girl with darker skin, hair, and amber eyes; whom she dragged towards Katsura.

“P-please forgive my sister, she’s… something.”

“Darn right I am, sis!” The lighter skinned girl said. “We’re the Hisaya twins! I’m Runa the Cat Trainer and she’s Kouri the Ice Skater.”

“Not the,” Kouri corrected Runa. “Ultimate. As in I’m the Ultimate Ice Skater.”

“These are the Hisaya siblings,” Jirou noted. “They may not look like much, but Kouri is good enough on her own for ice skating. She won several competitions. Runa on the other hand… she’s the polar opposite of her sister. While Kouri is quiet and reserved, Runa’s energetic and kind of annoying.”

“HEY! I heard that!” Runa squeaked, lightly punching Jirou in the arm.

Jirou snickered and turned back to me. “Runa has about five cats, and all of them are for show. She can make them do tricks and she won about five awards in cat show tournaments.

 _Cat show… tourneys?_ I thought to myself. _Never thought I would hear those words together._

Sounds of a scuffle reached my ears as I saw Inoue from the corner of my vision. I turned around to see her screaming at a boy with short, neatly cropped, black hair.

“Keep those corrupt thoughts to yourself, thief!” the glasses-wearing kid snapped at her.

“I didn’t even say anything-”

“You’re wrong. I, Aiko Nakago, can smell any sort of corruption in anybody’s heart.” When he felt everybody’s eyes on him he declared: “And I can sense it in all of you too, nothing ever goes past the Ultimate Psychologist!”

“Not only is Aiko the Ultimate Psychologist,” Jirou mused next to me. “But he is what the authorities call a **forensic psychologist.** I hear he’s good at interrogations.”

 _I bet he’s probably going to scream at Inoue and Tamara all the time due to their ‘heinous crimes.’_ I mused to myself.

“Everyone, stop bickering!” Immediately all voices ceased as we turned to a girl with long blonde hair and a boy next to her with short brown hair and an ivory suit. While the girl looked determined to win everybody over, the other kid look bored.

“I can automatically see we all have… errr, colorful personalities,” she declared, as a few students giggled at her joke. Aiko frowned her.

“I, Arianna Coda, along with my friend Katsu Oshira-” Katsu raised up a hand and waved briskly. “-will be in charge of this group until this guide comes.”

“But why?” wondered a dark pink haired girl in a fleece outfit.

“We might get killed,” Katsu quickly said. “It’s an unknown environment, Kumiko. Hell, even Ari doesn’t know what this place is.”

“Okay, okay. I get your point, loudmouth. I was just wondering, considering that there isn’t anybody or thing here that could kill us.”

I tried to look all around me but, I couldn’t see any visitors behind or beyond the gate. She was right, we were all completely alone.

A chill rushed through me, making me shiver as the TV flickered on again. Did the three talent schools kill all of the occupants before putting us inside. The small melody came to a screeching halt as a small feminine voice, not unlike the one we heard on the bus, filled the space.

“So-so-suh-sorry for keeping you all waiting! I’m waiting inside the treehouse building! If you take the path straight ahead, it’s down there. Thank you!~”

The thing shut off with a hum as a chime counted to sixteen, finally opening the gates for us.

I didn’t move. What if it was a trap?

Kumiko looked up at the gatling gun, then at the TV, and placed a hesitant foot onto where the closed gate just was.

No sound rose from the mass weapon, and I breathed in a sigh of relief, walking behind the fleece-wearing girl. Students slowly trickled in through the entrance, and one kid, who had one of his hazel eyes covered with a light green bandage ran past me, whooping. He hopped over a few trash cans, and almost ran into a tall male with half shaven brown hair.

“Y’ almos’ ruin’d meh fucking hair!” said the shaven kid, watching as the parkouring student ran up to the doors, turning around and waiting for the slow kids who didn’t choose to run.

Bandaged kid yelled back a reply that sounded like ‘I don’t care!’ and Katsu placed a hand on the gray-vested student’s shoulder.

“The kid Katsu is talking to? That’s Akira Masuru, the Ultimate Food Critic,” Katsura mused. Akira had snapped back a reply at the illusionist and he only shrugged. “The other boy that almost ran into him is Takuya Ueda, the Ultimate Parkourist. He may not look like much, but I bet you he’s the fastest kid in this class.”

From what I’ve heard, Akira’s family has a long-standing gene of ‘high quality taste buds,’ whatever that means. He’s reviewed many, many restaurants around the world, even the well known Hanamura eatery. Of course, there’s been rumors that at whatever place he gave negative reviews will or have already mysteriously closed down. For one restaurant that he gave one star in, the owner, Suda Bunjiro, had committed suicide via cyanide pills. Akira couldn’t care less. What a dick.

Takuya Ueda… I haven’t heard much about him. He isn’t an Akira or anything, but from what I heard, he seemingly has supernatural endurance, able to go through obstacle courses with little trouble. Even his injured eye he seems to be doing fine. I wonder what happened to it?

Walking to the aforementioned ‘treehouse’ building (according to whoever was speaking on the station), I passed by a few empty food kiosks. Shops advertised their worth and animal shaped hedges lined the walkway to the house.

I opened the glass door and stepped inside the lobby, smiling at the openness.

Walking around the large complex, I discovered that to the left of the giant, artificial plant was a small restaurant, with another kitchen to the left of the room. Akira had already ran in, scrutinizing the decorations, the furniture, even the kitchen.

Near the entrance to the right was a large gift shop, filled to the brim with t-shirts, plushies, and mugs. Takuya and Kumiko were there, along with Aiko at the high-tech computer at the cashier desk.

“Did you get anything?” I asked, wondering if there was a website to tell us where we are. Better yet, maybe some Internet?

“Nope,” Aiko sighed, turning around the monitor to show me the screen. It was black, featuring the zoo logo. The logo was white, with two crossing animals surrounding a crest with the words ‘ZZ’ on it. The animals were one weasel and one great horned owl.

“It won’t even turn on,” Takuya noted, turning towards me. “We tried everything, turning it back on and off, pulling up the command prompts, even resetting the modem. But no dice.”

“Maybe we’re supposed to wait for whoever’s going to pick us up?” Kumiko suggested.

Aiko only grunted, moving out from behind the counter. I took this as a sign to leave, moving out of the gift area, and to the right. There was a large hallway with rooms themed after animals. Elephants, worms, even panda bears. In the lone panda room was the same boy that woke up next to Inoue on the bus.

“Urghh… empty places give me the creeps.” muttered the same skin-colored hat boy. He noticed that I was in the room as well, turning towards me. He then smiled, “B-but at least there’s people here. I’m Minoru Yuuto, Ultimate Surfer.”

He looks to be a bit younger than a normal highschool student. I haven’t heard much about him other than the fact that he had surfed at many, many dangerous locations. I’m surprised he didn’t piss off any sharks.

“Lemme guess, you think I’m too young to be dancing on the edge of death? I’m only fourteen.” he questioned.

 _H-how the fuck did he read my mind?!_ I pondered to myself. I laughed nervously in response, hoping he wouldn’t see my constant fidgeting.

I backed out of the room, and almost into someone. Whoever it was took a few steps backwards and into the hall, falling down. Shit.

“I-I’m so so sorry!” I called out, walking towards the fallen student. He(?) had a neat, lavender hairstyle with a small bun. His outfit consisted of a large, cerulean colored coat and pants with darker blue boots. He also had some sort of mask covering his mouth and throat.

He responded to my apology with silence, getting up abruptly to brush off whatever dirt and/or dust had befallen upon him. The student stared at me for a few moments, and then he began to make gestures with his hands. I only tilted my head as Jirou came running down the hall, running into me and the seemingly deaf boy.

“I see you’ve met Caelan.” Jirou notes as I see Caelan stop signing and turn to the sharpshooter. He began making some new hand gestures and Jirou nodded, turning towards me.

“Caelan wants to say that it’s okay.” the red haired boy translated. “And… that his name is Caelan Hawking, and that he’s the Ultimate Fireworks Specialist.”

“He’s also… gender-neutral and goes by they/them or he/his. It doesn’t matter.” he transcribed. Once Caelan stopped signing, he opened up his right hand. Caelan then slowly lowered it in a curve from his covered chin to his chest, holding out his hand like he wanted a cookie. Jirou nodded and I tried copying that motion, only this time I went faster than normal.

Caelan must’ve seen it from the corner of his eye or something because he raised his eyebrows and I could see a frown forming behind his mask. Did I do it wrong?

“You said ‘fuck you’ to them,” Jirou corrected me, waving his hand curtly at Caelan who shook his head up and down. “You’re supposed to do it slowly, otherwise you’d be rude.”

“How do you know so much about sign language?” I asked Jirou.

“An American moved from the northwestern part of the country to here, and he brought two other Americans with him. Anybody that got assigned to the deaf soldier’s unit had to learn ASL in order to communicate with him. I only know some of it though. It’s better than nothing.”

A small chime ran through the building, silencing our conversation.

“Please m-make you-you-your way to the treehouse, thank you!”

A small static hum filled my ears as Caelan moved from the corridor to the center of the building. I followed the semi-mute person to the center of the complex. At the center there were fifteen (including me and Jirou)-

Wait, wasn’t there a sixteenth student?

“Where is he?!” Arianna cried out. “We all have to be here on time and he’s probably hiding away somewhere.”

“It’s not like it’s going to make a, uh, difference…” Kouri trailed off when she felt the Ultimate Charisma’s glare burning into her.

“Ryuunosuke?” Runa questioned, waiting for a nod from Arianna. Once she performed the gesture, Runa pointed to Caelan.

A shape behind the fireworks specialist was quivering violently. Ryuunosuke was small, with short blue-gray hair and white suspenders with shorts. Wasn’t he the Ultimate Chess Player?

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING EARLIER?!” Arianna looked like she was about to explode, and the chess player’s trembles only increased at her fury. Caelan only yawned, not even caring about his classmate shaking behind him.

“There is no need to yell, Ms. Coda!”

A loud, clear voice pierced the room. It sounded sweet, sickly sweet. Like there was something hiding behind it.

“Whu-what the…?” Arianna widened her eyes. “How do you know my name?”

“It’s alright, Ms. Coda. You have nothing to be afraid of, for your guide is here and ready!”

We all turned to the big tree, and then suddenly, a currant colored animal with one twitching ear and a metallic, pointy one appeared out of nowhere. The animal was about three feet tall, and it had what seemed like blood going through tubes from the back of its head to its neck.

An uncomfortable silence washed over us. Some cyborg weasel thing suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and claimed to be our guide.

I could almost sense all the red flags in my head immediately going off.

“Hello students!” The weasel said, giggling. “I’m sorry that I took so long, but your guide, I.T.A.C.H.I. is here and ready to stay! W-weeeeellllcome to Zumbadoor Zoo!”

[[ ♫♫♫ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2MJCBCc6eQ)]

“The hell, someone thought it would’ve been nice t’ prank us!” Akira said, trying to get a good look at Itachi.

“Oh, Mister Masuru, I can assure you, this is no prank at all! The talent schools thought it would be great for me to give you a tour of the zoo!” The food critic made a startled grunt at the fact that Itachi knew his name. “And, the staff thought it would be nice to show off the fact that, yes, animal augmentation is possible!”

“But there’s no one here-” Minoru started to say something, but the weasel shut him up when a quick shake of her head.

“But you’re all tired from…” Itachi paused, not moving a single muscle. I coughed, and that seemed to wake her up. “Exhausssstiiiooonnn! So, please, follow me to your rooms- oh wait I almost forgot!”

Itachi pulled out sixteen small phones about the length of her legs, placing them on a stool.

“These are your Electro I.Ds.! Not only does it show your information, but there’s also a map to show you where you are! Please take one that has your name on it.”

With my other fifteen classmates, I walked up to the large stool and fished out an I.D. with my name on it. (If E. Natsuyami counted as a ‘name’) I tapped a button on the bottom of the I.D. and it booted to life, automatically showing me the map.

“The reason why the rooms are blank is because they haven’t been automatically set as yours yet,” the guide explained. Once the mailbox in front of a cabin fully configures your I.D., then it’ll only recognize you as the cabin owner itself! That way there can be no roommates or anything too lewd happening behind the scenes! Please follow me.”

We followed Itachi outside, with me noticing three buildings, alike in size and structure. She noticed my stares and began explaining that those were the bathrooms. The one with the pink door was for girls, the gray door was meant for gender-neutral people, and the blue door was meant for boys.

Takuya ran ahead of everyone, the showoff, and traversed up the hill, to where the cabins were. There were sixteen cabins, all looking like a hollow, half-chopped log.

“Dibs,” cried the speedy youngster, running towards a cabin directly west from the large fire pit. I shrugged and ran for the closest one towards me, the last cabin on the left. I quickly tapped my I.D. into a wooden post (no idea why Itachi called it a mailbox) and a small ‘ding!’ was heard from inside the abode. I opened the doors and walked in, noting the minimalistic feel to it. Wooden walls, wooden floors, even a small area for showering/bathing. The bed was white, and there was a black futon lying there.

A window overlooked the bed and when I tried peeking at it, all I could see was the big treehouse building we just went to.

“A L L  P A R T I C I P A N T S  A R E,” a feminine but mechanical voice emitted from my phone-like device. A pitched tone rang twice, followed by: “C O N F I R M E D.  S A V I N G . . .”

It booted itself up after a while and I opened it up, tapping ‘Rules.’

  1. All individuals are advised to keep together during the tour! No wanderers or you’ll get lost and end up on restricted property.
  2. Harassment/molestation/abuse of zoo animals is off limits. Some of these are rare species!
  3. No littering! We want our zoo to be safe!
  4. Curfew is at 9:30 PM and lights out is 10 PM. Any further areas, but not the cabins and bathrooms, will be locked. The backdoor to the kitchen will be locked as we bring in more food.
  5. A bell rings at 7 AM. Meet at the firepit at 8 AM sharp to receive further instructions.
  6. More rules will be added later if needed.



I tapped 'Map' again to see where who's rooms belonged to who.

I exited out of my room and to the large fire pit, where everybody else was sitting. Katsura took a seat next to me and laid back.

“I feel like I’m back in the ‘States, camping again. Except this time I don’t have to worry about any bears,” mused the masked artist. “Now all we need are marshmallows and some bum playing on a guitar that’s older than his ancestors.”

I chuckled lightly, watching my other colleagues wander around the cabins. “Seems like they went out of their way to accommodate us. But…”

“But what?”

“Isn’t Zumbadoor Zoo a popular tourist site back in the United States?” Katsura remained silent. “If that was the case, then there would be people wandering around here and not just us, right?”

“I recall reading a pamphlet about it when I toured in… N-new… York…” Katsura struggled to say the big city’s name. “Maybe we’re coming here on a day when the tourism is slow. Or maybe we’re in the Japan division? I can’t remember anything past that.” She looked towards a trembling shape walking slowly towards us, sitting in an empty chair next to mine. His tremors made the seat shake.

“U-um…. Hi…” he whispered. I opened my maw to say ‘hi’ back, but Katsura interrupted me.

“Hiya! Who’re you?! I’m Katsura Satoru and that pretty blonde over there is Eri Natsuyami and she’s the Ultimate Debate Club President and I-”

During the EDM Artist’s speech I saw a few people stare at her for being too loud and Ryuunosuke scooting his chair away from the cat-masked girl. I almost felt bad for him.

“Scared him.” Tamara grunted, shushing Katsura. “You too loud for his ears. He is cringing inside.” Ryuunosuke slowly nodded at the hitwoman’s words, moving his chair towards me and my newfound chatty friend.

“Sorry, I get startled at re-really loud noises. I, uh, have sensitive ears. L-like Ari said, I’m Ryu-you-nosuke. I’m good at… chess.”

“Oh, well nice to meet you,” I said.

“Uh… yeah…”

We both fell into silence as Tamara lightly coughed, crossing and uncrossing her lean legs.

I began to see more people trickle into the center of the fire pit. Itachi ran past all of us, leaping onto the fresh logs.

“Attention students! Since you’ve already settled in quite nicely, we’re going to begin our tour! You can see the rules on your Electro I.D.s, so without further ado, let’s-”

A loud static crackle filled the space, I turned around, noticing that it was coming from a tv hanging on a tree with what looked like a security camera on it.

“Hello? Testing, testing! Can you hear me?” A honeyed voice spoke as the white noise got worse.

“If you want to truly get out of this zoo and go home, then move your puny asses to the picnic zone as soon as possible! Make sure to bring your kidnapper with you-hoot!” A loud, screechy squawk resonated through our eardrums as the television shut off.

Itachi went silent, murmurs went through the area, and I felt a sensation of dread twisting in my gut.

We were kidnapped?

END OF PROLOGUE PART 01.

16 STUDENTS REMAIN.


	2. Zumbadorararara! [Part 2]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the main villain appears.

After the stranger told us of our fate, we stood in silence as Itachi, our supposed shanghaier, shook with fear.

“No… no no no no it’s not supposed to b- gah!”

Her worrying came to a halt as Aiko lifted the weasel by her collar, causing the mammal to choke as we tried to pull Aiko away from Itachi.

“What ‘a hell, man?!” Akira said, trying to pull back the psychologist by the shoulders.

“Aiko-san, please, stop it! You’re hurting her!” Kumiko warned.

“I’m not letting go of this _guerilla_ until I get some fucking answers!” Aiko snapped, causing the food critic to back away from him.

“I’m no primate,” Itachi managed to choke out. “I’m just a weasel! I have never- ack!” Itachi raised up her paws and tried to bat away Aiko’s hand.

“I-I think he’s calling you a criminal,” Ryuunosuke mumbled.

“Wh…why?” That was all I could say. Just one voice had turned the entire group onto Itachi. Just like that. Who could ever have something that powerful?

“Maybe we should go to the picnic area and get some answers anyway!”

The words were out of my mouth before I realized it, and my skin flushed when everybody stared at me. Aiko released Itachi from his grip and there was a choking sound coming from the cyborg-animal.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Arianna piped up, breaking the silence.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Well. Think about the worst possible things that could happen! Like a terrorist attack, or more kidnappers!”

Huh. She had a point. Instead of listening to her, however, I ran from the fire circle to the path directly east from the treehouse building.

Once I saw picnic tables, I skidded to a stop. The area was large, with three ‘gateways’ to who-knows-where. The tables were scattered and I could see plants on top of the big gateway for the tiny gateways. A tree stood to the left, with some security camera hanging from it.

“Nhhh….Nooo faiirrr!” A voice wheezed. I turned around to see Takuya clutching his chest as he lumbered over to the area. “You… you beat me!” The half-blinded student later sat on a mint-green table, gasping constantly.

I coughed, looking back towards where I came from. It seemed that me and Takuya were the only ones here.

So where was that thing with the honeyed voice?

After staring at the ground for a few moments, I walked over to the table where Takuya was sitting, twiddling my fingers.

“Are you okay, Eri?” asked the parkourist, concern lacing in his voice.

“Just a bit nervous,” I confessed. “This is all really hard to take in. I mean, you seem to be enjoying it-”

“The only reason why I-” his voice shifted tones and I fidgeted in my seat. “-am enjoying is because of all these obstacles I get to face! The rocks, trees, buildings, I get to climb over them all!”

“All of them?”

There was silence from the other student before he nodded once.

Eventually I saw my fellow fourteen other classmates walk up the gravel path to the picnic area. Itachi was at the front, her chest puffed out and her fur on edge.

“Show yourself!” She squeaked out as me and Takuya stood up. “I demand to know who is interrupting our educational field trip!”

At first, there was silence, all I could hear was something making a ‘whirr’ noise and wings flapping.

“I can hear you!” Itachi yelled out to the open air. “What are you, a coward?!”

…

…

…

“H-heh, nice pr-prank, you weasel… haaaa….” Akira commented.

“This. Is no prank!” The flattering voice suddenly replied, I heard more wing flaps, which came in the direction of the tree.

[[ ♫♫♫ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAJ5uvRqWfI)]

From the sky came down a large owl that swooped over our heads, landing on a large branch the same one with the camera on it.

It posed, and that was when I could see it more clearly.

The owl was a bit larger than normal owls. It had a swooped up hairstyle and one side of it was white. The other side of the owl was a dark brown color. Instead of a normal beady black eye on the white side, there was a jagged red slash on the right one. It had bark colored legs and silver talons. The owl wore a crimson colored bow, its ribbons tattered and worn. The avian had a large grin on the right side of its face, and on the other side was an ebony colored beak.

“Hello students!” It chirped. “I see you brought your kidnapper with you!”

“I’m n-no kidnapper,” the weasel retorted, shivering. “You manipulated them into thinking that!”

“Oh, you know me so well,” the bird said, his voice faltering. “Here I am, trying to give them advice and you’re getting in the way! If only I could do SOMETHING about it… hmm.”Itachi took a small step back, and the owl spread his wings.

It swooped down to the weasel, snagging its talons into her stomach. A loud screech emitted from our guide as she was hoisted up into the air, the bird struggling to lift her up. The screeches went from normal yells to distorted screams.

“Haha!” The bird laughed as we stood there in shock. I could see Aiko lift a hand over his mouth, his eyes widening. “You’re too heavy! That means you’re a fatty! Ha! Uh oh, I’m slipping!”

The owl released its talons from Itachi’s stomach and she fell, down, down to the ground. Her body landed with a loud slam, and that was when I could see her corpse.

Her beady black eye was lifeless, the metal part of her face was untouched, but her ‘eye’ showed only purple static. The tubes that connected from her flesh to the metal had burst and blood dripped from them. Itachi’s neck was torn open along with her stomach, her bloody entrails exposed to my classmates and I.

Her screams kept on cutting in and out from her vocal cords, and I doubted that she was still alive.

I could hear silence from my friends, until…

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Everybody erupted into chatter when the sight of Itachi’s dead body burned into our eyes.

“This.. this not good!” Tamara yelped. “That bird just… kill…”

“No no no no no no no!” Ryuunosuke cried out, clinging onto Caelan. “I-I don’t wanna die!”

“Pipe down, pipe down,” the owl commanded us, landing on the weasel’s remains. He put his wings in the air when the chatter accumulated in noise. “I SAID, **PIPE DOWN** YOU BASTARDS!” Everyone muted themselves while a few students, mostly coming from Ryuunosuke, were sobbing.

“As you can see, I have delivered the most important thing: justice, to you all! If you ever want to tell this story to me, then my name is Monofukuro! Or Monofuku. Whatever is easier to pronounce.” The bird did a little dance, spinning around.

“I’m your new headmaster/principal/guide on this Zoo Trip of Mutual- ah, where’s my manners? I forgot to tell you about the new rules!”

“New rules?” Kumiko asked.

“I didn’t stutter, did I?” Monofuku asked. “Anyway. Rule number One! You are not allowed to leave the zoo in any way, shape, or form! For all you know, we could be on an island, far far away from any mainland! Those that try to escape will deal with the consequences. Just like that bitch I’m standing on.

“Rule number Two! Night time is 10 PM to about 7AM. Those that aren’t sleeping in their already assigned cabins will be punished accordingly.”

“W-what if we pass out?” Katsura asked.

“Then it better not be past 10 PM, gahahahaha!” Monofuku cackled.

“Rule number Three! You can explore the zoo with your heart’s content, with minimal restrictions, of course.

“Four! You cannot attack me nor the security cameras! I’m only here for your safety.”

“No yer not!” Akira shouted, suddenly charging towards the bird. “You jus’ wanna scare us!”

“Akira. Please. Shut u-” Arianna was interrupted by a glare from the food critic as he picked up a rock and tossed it right at our new headmaster’s head.

A loud cracking noise pierced the air as Monofukuro went dead silent. All anybody could hear from the avian was a loud beeping sound. It only increased in cacophony as Katsu back away from the large crowd of students.

“Duck!” Katsu commanded.

“But wait! I’m not a duck!” Runa protested, yelping when her older sister grabbed her shirt, yanking down the cat trainer.

When I crouched down, shielding myself, the owl exploded with a large blast. It shook the ground and it only made Itachi’s corpse splatter and explode as well. Her body parts flew everywhere, when I glanced at metal shrapnel flying past me I closed my eyes tightly. And then, something wet slapped my arm.

When I turned to look at it, I held back the acidic stomach bile rising in my throat, leaving me with a sour aftertaste. It was an intestine, Itachi’s intestine! The giblet was wrapped around my arm, still dripping blood, still warm.

I could’ve sworn I felt a _pulse._

“Gyahahaha! She exploded!”

A second Monofuku flew in and landed on a mint colored picnic table, posing. “I like your _bracelet_ too, Eri. It looks fancy!”

I growled in disgust, “Y-you sick fuck!”

“Thaaaaaat’s me! Now that you know what happens when you attack me, I’ll continue on. Rule Number Five! Hoo-hoot! It’s my favorite rule!”

‘I wish to leave,’ Caelan signed while Jirou translated for the owl. ‘How can I leave this place?’

“Good question, my little deaf-mute!” Caelan narrowed his eyes at the comment, considering that he could still hear the taunt. “That’s where the true purpose of the Zoo Trip comes in!”

Monofuku’s red eye glowed. “For you to be able to leave, you must go through graduation. Graduation is a process that, depending on some people, can be easy or hard-”

“-Get on with it, already!” Aiko said.

“Fine, fine, calm yourselves. I’ll get to the point.” There was a brief pause. “You wanna get out of here? Kill someone!”

…

I felt like there was a heavy weight that just sank me down. Killing someone? How could you kill a person you just met? I barely knew any of my classmates yet this thing was telling me to end their life.

“Bashing, stabbing, clubbing, choking, torturing, et cetera! It doesn’t matter! As long as there’s a dead body, and YOU get away with it, everybody else is punished and you alone can leave!”

“That’s terrible!” Arianna declared. “I assure you, you dumb bird, we won’t fall into your trap!”

“Oh, really, Coda-kouhai? Nobody can escape the despair that follows up with murder. Nobody.” The new headmaster growled.

“I-I can’t murder someone! That’s so pawful!” Runa screamed out, gripping on Kouri’s shirt so tightly that her hands started shaking.

“Well! I’ll see you all tomorrow! I hope you all get some sleep! Hoo-hoot!”

And then he disappeared.

An eerie atmosphere surrounded us. Aiko had a hand over his mouth, his glasses clenched tightly in his other hand, he was trembling slightly. A few students, such as Kumiko and Ryuunosuke had tears running down their faces.

Me? I was in shock.

It all happened so fast and yet, this was very real. Itachi dying, then exploding, the revelation of us needing to kill each other to escape, everything was too fast.

I slowly plodded to my cabin, my ears filling with static.

"Hey, hey! Eri, come back! J-just look on the bright side... ah..." the costumed EDM artist tried to comfort me, but all I could hear was static. It blocked everybody out, and I didn't even feel her hand on my shoulder.

I just continued walking to my cabin, opening the door with my I.D. and stepping inside. The floor's creaking broke me out of my daze and I collapsed on my bed. I let a long, dreary, sigh to tumble out of my lips. I grabbed the white pillow, started trembling, and held it to my face.

I began screaming.

I screamed and screamed and screamed. Screaming because of the shock, screaming because we were trapped here, screaming because of my  _fright._ I started coughing as my throat burned in agony. Groaning, I got up, went to the mini bathroom, and splashed some water on my face. I drank a few scoops of water with my hands.

Glancing up into the mirror, my face was flushed, my throat still raw from my howls of despair. I heard my cabin door jiggling furiously, as my skin stood on edge. I stood quietly in the restroom, groping around for something to strike the potential assailant. My fingers grazed something sharp and I wrapped my digits around a rectangular object on top of a wooden cabient. A razor.

The intruder left the cabin as I shakily stood up, tremors wracking my body as I walked slowly towards the bathroom door.

I opened it slowly, noticing nothing was disturbed, other than a pile of rather clean clothes on my bed. As I disassembled the neat lump of rags, I took notice that it consisted of a gray tank top with very short black shorts. Laying in the middle of the layers was a sticky note reading ‘pjs’ in a dark red pen.

Well, at least I don’t have to sleep in my dress.

A loud bell rung through loudly outside as I opened the door, staring up at a TV attached to a tree near my temporary living space.

Monofuku stood on a bird stand, holding a wine glass of… something in his right talon. Somehow.

“Attention! It is now 10 PM! For those of you that didn’t get the warning when we first met, it is now Night Time! The treehouse building will be closed and all running water will be shut off in the showers. The bathrooms are open for your convenience, as there are lights to guide you to them! Here’s hoping you actually make it back to your house! Fuhuhuhuhu!”

Groaning, I went back into my adobe.

After changing into my clothing I curled up on the bed. My legs were pulled upwards and I was facing my right side. I stared at the intricate patterns of wood, counting how many shapes I could find. I then slowly fell into a deep sleep.

That night, I dreamed of owls and weasels.

* * *

 

DAY [01] END

16 STUDENTS (minus 1 GUIDE) REMAIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Fangan Ronpa, so please leave kudos and constructive criticism (as well as Free Time Event suggestions for later). It helps! (Also, thanks for the kudos, whoever gave it out!)

**Author's Note:**

> (1) Translation from Russian: "You fucking criminal! You stole from us!"  
> This is my first Fangan Ronpa, so please leave kudos and constructive criticism (as well as Free Time Event suggestions for later). It helps!


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